On Becoming Unreasonable

I have come to favor this translated quote from Voltaire’s “Questions sur les Miracles,”: “Formerly there were those who said: You believe things that are incomprehensible, inconsistent, impossible because we have commanded you to believe them; go then and do what is injust because we command it. Such people show admirable reasoning. Truly, whoever canContinue reading “On Becoming Unreasonable”

GOD

What is God? Paul Tillich, often considered the most influential theologian of the 20th century wrote of God as being itself. In the early 1950s, Tillich wrote, “The only possible answer seems to be that God is being-itself, in the sense of the power of being or the power to conquer non-being.” [Systematic Theology, Vol.Continue reading “GOD”

A Thanksgiving To Celebrate

Thanksgiving is a uniquely American experience celebrating the grace and hospitality of the Wampanoag nation to the ill-equipped Pilgrim settlers of Plymouth Colony in 1621. The Pilgrims response to that hospitality is a blot on American foreign policy and a mockery of Christian values. So can a 21st century Christian American participate by celebration onContinue reading “A Thanksgiving To Celebrate”

The Kingdom of God – Transcript

Tom (00:07): Hello everybody. Tom Ziegert here. Welcome to the fifth episode in the third season of my podcast, Theology 21st Century offering the religious outsider alternatives and practical understandings of God’s relationship with us. As with each week’s topic, I offer the apology that in this format, this subject can not be exhaustive. YourContinue reading “The Kingdom of God – Transcript”

“I Am Who I Am” – attributed to God & Popeye

This blog’s title is “I Am Who I Am,” a phrase attributed to God and Popeye. (Actually, Popeye said, “I am yam what I yam.”) Hard to believe that my generation got important theology from a cartoon. But we did. And we learned an important, albeit subconscious, lesson: You can’t be anyone else than whoContinue reading ““I Am Who I Am” – attributed to God & Popeye”